Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Matthieu Bordenave: The Blue Land

Matthieu Bordenave: The Blue Land

By Mike Jurkovic
February 7, 2024
View read count

Getting across the great open land beneath big sky country is full of epic moments. The Blue Land, French saxophonist

Matthieu Bordenave

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthieu Bordenave's second for ECM, is that migrant's diary.

As he so skillfully rendered on his 2020 ECM debut La Travers��e, Bordenave again enters the studio conjoined with the assertive mood swings of bassist

Patrice Moret

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Patrice Moretand the rapidly moving divertimentos of pianist

Florian Weber

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Florian Weber. Only this time he adds to that valorous energy the meatier,

Art Blakey

drums
1919 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Blakey-like sentiments of drummer

James Maddren

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">James Maddren—and The Blue Land's tale begins.

First, "La Porte Entrouverte." A searching chapter as the quartet enters the story individually, slowly, one by one. Not so much as to tease or to give false direction but to turn into a visceral, near heroic moment. Which could very well be The Blue Land's namesake track. Rising from Weber's undisguised thunder, the quartet evolves across time and space, mode and motif, as Moret's slippery blue tones holds sway.

Spacious, moody, meditative, and immediate, the saxophonist and his compositions spin delicate, cognitive webs, leaving Moret, Weber and Maddren to create at will a way around a moving center. Thus another heroic moment in the saga is the collective's indigo meditation upon

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane 's victorious "Compassion." First heard on Coltrane's elevated Meditations (Impulse!, 1966), Bordenave, Moret, Weber and Maddren take what amounts to be an even more emotive, penetrating stance.

It is a great moment when we can eavesdrop on one of ECM's unchallenged triumphs. And that, in a nutshell, is what The Blue Land is: a coalition of rampant, runaway energies coalescing into the moody atmospherics of "Cyrus," and "Refraction." Empowered by Maddren's beat hand jive, "Distance" builds into "Three Four" which may very well define Bordenave's inquiring, quixotic approach to chamber jazz. Focused loosely, "Timbre" is allowed to fall in and on itself all in the name of a classical modernist's interpretation of bop, both then (Coltrane again though aided and abetted by

Charles Lloyd

saxophone
b.1938

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Lloyd) and since. "Three Peaks" is the stoic conclusion. None the worse for the wear and tear. Alert and alive. Here.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

La Porte Entrouverte; The Blue Land; Compassion; Cyrus; Refraction; Distance; Three Four; Timbre; Three Peaks.

Personnel

Matthieu Bordenave

saxophone

Florian Weber

piano

Patrice Moret

bass

James Maddren

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Matthieu Bordenave: soprano saxophone.

Album information

Title: The Blue Land | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: ECM Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Smack Up
< Previous

Look For The Silver Lining
Next >

Matthieu Bordenave Concerts

Oct 26 Sun

Jazz & Goûter Fête Les Beatles

Sunset-Sunside
Paris, France

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.